Monday, November 19, 2012

Many of the people who go around talking about Obama hasn't done anything for the poor and middle class generally break down into two categories - self-serving demagogues who are out to mislead the people for their own gain, and the victims of those demagogues who are basing their opinion on what they've been told, since most of them obviously haven't read anything beyond the sports page in twenty years.
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While the former group are disgusting for trying to mislead the people for personal gain, at least they’re trying to better their condition. The latter, on the other hand, are not only disgusting, but sad. These people are obviously too lazy-minded to, at the very least, keep themselves informed enough to protect their own families.
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What's so sad is, many of these people or highly educated - or at least, spent a lot of years sitting in various classrooms - and others can tell you the name and birthdate of the bat boy who cleaned the bat that was used to score the winning run in the 1936 World Series. Yet, these very same people can't, or won't, spare a couple of minutes to gather the necessary information to make sure their families aren't victimized by demagogues.
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They don't seem to understand that corporate fascists are poised to take away everything we've worked all of our lives to acquire. The GOP has rigged the system to allow international corporations to pour unlimited amounts of money into buying the very people who are suppose to protect us, they've mounted a brutal assault on our educational system to render us too uninformed to understand what's going on around us, they've organized a campaign to obstruct our right to vote, they're trying to abolish the Fair Labor Standards Act in an attempt to destroy our labor unions, and finally, they've mounted a campaign to abolish Social Security and Medicare. In short, the Republican Party is leaving no stone unturned to undermine our lives from cradle to grave. Yet, all these so-called "defenders of the poor" can focus on is attacking Obama, and implying on sites like "BlackBlueDog.com" (The term "Blue Dog Democrat" is credited to Texas Democratic Rep. Pete Geren - who later joined the Bush Administration) that Black people are intellectually challenged for feeling obliged to vote Democratic. Really!!!? Are these people idiots, or do they think we are?
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There's something terribly wrong with that picture, and it's something that the American people should take a close look at - and since many of these so-called intellectuals profess to be Black "scholars," the Black community should be especially curious about what's going on.
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But then, maybe these people aren't malevolent at all. Maybe they're just not as bright as their hype has led us to believe. Maybe they're simply wannabes who, while supposedly being educated, were actually being indoctrinated out of their connection with reality. That used to happen so routinely that the old folks had a name for such people - "educated fools." And such people were so toxic that the old folks were always on the look out for them.
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When I went to college, my grandparents were very proud of me. Nevertheless, the first thing my grandmother said was, "Eric, don't let them educate the common sense out of you." I promised that I wouldn't, but it has indeed been a struggle. But nonsense, and the worship of talking dead folks are so pervasive in our educational system that the propensity for independent thought has been all but abandoned. That's clearly what's happen to Cornel West and many of his followers - they've come to believe that since West is a product of Harvard and Princeton - and thus, privy to the thoughts of dead White folks - that his water is wetter than our own. Well, it's not. Dr. West is just as capable of being a damn fool as anyone else - and in this case, I'm afraid he is.
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So perhaps it would be more effective if instead of trying to reeducate these people into understanding that corporate fascists are trying to enslave our families, we should simply tell them that the fascists are poised to abolish ESPN and the Soul Train Awards. Then, perhaps they'd have an incentive to become the true political scholars that they profess to be. I mean, they don’t have to be brilliant to recapture reality; all they have to do is look it up on Google under "Wake up, fool!"
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So what has Obama done for the Poor, you ask? He's done the following - and this is just the short list:

1). He stopped the nation from hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs A MONTH under Bush. I'd say that helped the poor and middle class.

2). He stopped the nation from going into a second Great Depression. I would think, that also helped the poor and middle class.

3). He saved the American auto industry. I’m pretty sure that also qualifies as helping the poor and middle class.

4). He was the first president to successfully passed healthcare reform in 70 years. That not only helped, but will save the lives of many of the poor and middle class.

5). He created more jobs in 27 months than Bush did in 7 years. That definitely helped the poor and middle class.

6). While he was doing all of the things above, he also managed to get Osama Bin Laden in his spare time - and if you remember, Bush spent 7 years, upward of a TRILLION dollars, and killed or maimed thousands of American troops in that effort. But Obama managed to pull it off with two helicopters and a handful of men.
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Bush and Cheney’s incompetence and greed in this matter destroyed and/or disrupted thousands of poor and middle class families, while the rich had to look at their ever-swelling war profits just to know that the nation was involved in conflict. The war had no impact on them at all, because the rich no longer send their kids to die for this country - that's a job for poor folks - and now they want us to pay for the war as well.
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Thus, Bush and Cheney's mismanagement of both the economy, and the war in Iraq, played a major role in what got us in this economic quagmire in the first place. Yet, we didn’t hear a word from critics like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West during George W. Bush’s fiasco. Where were these two defenders of the poor and middle class then?
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But Obama didn’t complain about that at all - he didn’t have time to complain, and he didn't have time to respond to the ridiculous charges of envious Black-on-Black racists. The president is an adult, with adult concerns, so he was, and is, much too busy cleaning up the mess left behind by the relative ear-splitting silence during the Bush administration of those who have suddenly discovered a newfound concern for "the least of these."
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So while others were plotting, fighting for attention, and whining, President Obama was busy doing following:
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- Spur Job Creation: "In addition, to help those most affected by the recession, the Budget will extend emergency assistance to seniors and families with children, Unemployment Insurance benefits, COBRA tax credits, and relief to states and localities to prevent layoffs."
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- Reforming the Job Training System: "The Budget calls for reform of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which supports almost 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers nationwide and a range of other services. With $6 billion for WIA at DOL—and an additional $4 billion in the Department of Education—the Budget calls for reforms to improve WIA." Strengthen Anti-Discrimination Enforcement: "To strengthen civil rights enforcement against racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, religious, and gender discrimination, the Budget includes an 11 percent increase in funding to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. This investment will help the Division handle implementation of a historic new hate crimes law. The Budget also provides an $18 million, or 5 percent increase, for the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee. This increased investment will allow for more staff to reduce the backlog of private sector charges."
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- Support Historically Black Colleges and Universities: "The Budget proposes $642 million, an increase of $30 million over the 2010 level, to support Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), including Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to this discretionary funding increase for MSIs, the Administration supports legislation passed by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate that would provide $2.55 billion in mandatory funding to MSIs over 10 years."
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- Help Families Struggling with Child Care Costs: "The Budget will nearly double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-class families making under $85,000 a year by increasing their credit rate from 20 percent to 35 percent of child care expenses. Nearly all eligible families making under $115,000 a year would see a larger credit. The Budget also provides critical support for young children and their families by building on historic increases provided in ARRA. The Budget provides an additional $989 million for Head Start and Early Head Start to continue to serve 64,000 additional children and families funded in ARRA."
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- Reform Elementary and Secondary School Funding: "The Budget supports the Administration’s new vision for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) … The Budget provides a $3 billion increase in funding for K-12 education programs authorized in the ESEA, including $900 million for School Turnaround Grants, and the Administration will request up to $1 billion in additional funding if Congress successfully completes ESEA reauthorization."
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- Increase Pell Grants: "The Recovery Act and 2009 appropriations bill increased the maximum Pell Grant by more than $600 for a total award of $5,350. The Budget proposes to make that increase permanent and put them on a path to grow faster than inflation every year, increasing the maximum grant by $1,000, expanding eligibility, and nearly doubling the total amount of Pell grants since the President took office."
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- Help Relieve Student Loan Debt: "To help graduates overburdened with student loan debt, the Administration will strengthen income-based repayment plans for student loans by reducing monthly payments and shortening the repayment period so that overburdened borrowers will pay only 10 percent of their discretionary income in loan repayments and can have their remaining debt forgiven after 20 years. Those in public service careers will have their debt forgiven after 10 years. The Budget also expands low-cost Perkins student loans."
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- Prevent Hunger and Improve Nutrition: "The President’s Budget provides $8.1 billion for discretionary nutrition program supports, which is a $400 million increase over the 2010 enacted level. Funding supports 10 million participants in the WIC program, which is critical to the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and their infants. The Budget also supports a strong Child Nutrition and WIC reauthorization package that will ensure that school children have access to healthy meals and to help fulfill the President’s pledge to end childhood hunger. The President continues to support the nutrition provisions incorporated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)."
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- Revitalize Distressed Urban Neighborhoods: "The Budget includes $250 million for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program, which will target neighborhoods anchored by distressed public or assisted housing with physical and social revitalization grounded in promising, measurable, and evidence-based strategies."
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- Increase Funding for the Housing Choice Voucher Program: "The President’s Budget requests $19.6 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program to help more than two million extremely low income families with rental assistance to live in decent housing in neighborhoods of their choice. The Budget continues funding for all existing mainstream vouchers and provides flexibility to support new vouchers that were leased and $85 million in special purpose vouchers for homeless families with children, families at risk of homelessness, and persons with disabilities."
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- Preserve 1.3 Million Affordable Rental Units through Project-Based Rental Assistance Program: "The President’s Budget provides $9.4 billion for the Project-Based Rental Assistance program to preserve approximately 1.3 million affordable rental units through increased funding for contracts with private owners of multifamily properties. This critical investment will help low-income households to obtain or retain decent, safe and sanitary housing. In addition, the Administration requests $350 million to fund the first phase of this multi-year initiative to regionalize the Housing Choice Voucher program and convert Public Housing to project-based vouchers."
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- Promote Affordable Homeownership and Protect Families from Mortgage Fraud: "The Budget requests $88 million for HUD to support homeownership and foreclosure prevention through Housing Counseling and $20 million to combat mortgage fraud. In addition, the Budget requests $250 million for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s (NRC) grant and training programs. Of the $250 million, $113 million is requested for foreclosure prevention activities, a $48 million increase (74 percent) over 2010."
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- Fight Gang Violence and Violent Crime: "The Budget provides $112 million for place-based, evidence supported, initiatives to combat violence in local communities, including $25 million for the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiatives that aim to reduce gun and other violence among youth gangs in cities and towns across the country, and $37 million for the Attorney General’s Children Exposed to Violence Initiative, which targets the youth most affected by violence and most susceptible to propagating it as they grow up."
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- Expand Prisoner Re-entry Programs: "The Budget provides $144 million for Department Justice prisoner re-entry programs, including an additional $100 million for the Office of Justice Programs to administer grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act and $30 million for residential substance abuse treatment programs in State and local prisons and jails. In addition, the Budget provides $98 million for Department of Labor programs that provide employment-centered services to adult and youth ex-offenders and at-risk youth.."
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- Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant Program: "The Budget provides $4.4 billion for the Community Development Fund, including $3.99 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Formula Program (CDBG), and $150 million for the creation of a Catalytic Investment Competition Grants program. The new Catalytic Competition Grants program uses the authorities of CDBG, but will provide capital to bring innovative economic development projects to scale to make a measurable impact."
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Now, what has Tavis Smiley and Cornel West done - other than promote their shows and try to sell you books and "ghetto loans?" Absolutely nothing.

Monday, November 12, 2012

While browsing the web this morning I came across an article written by Dr. Boyce Watkins blaring, "Cornel West Says that Sharpton, Dyson are “Up for Sale”: Let’s Talk about That One, Shall We?" My first reaction was, "Hmmmm, Dr. Dyson must have gotten a new job."
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The reason that's the first thing that came to mind was because Cornel West is rapidly building a reputation for attacking anyone in the Black community who tends to overshadow him. This tendency, and the reckless and petty way in which he pursues it, has become so pronounced in West that it's beginning to betray his primary agenda as a whole. He's not interested in the Black community at all. All Cornel West is interested in is keeping Cornel West in the media spotlight.

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West is quick to drag out any shortcomings that he can conjure up regarding anyone black that tends to step into his spotlight. Take President Obama, for example. I don't recall West ever being so disrespectful to George W. Bush. That speaks volumes about his mentality and both he and Tavis' lack of respect for Black people in general. But they always try to claim that their critics are simply "trying to kill the messenger." Well, in a sense they're right, because with respect to President Obama, their true message is, "How dare that spook try to con us into believing that he's good enough to do a White man's job?" And that's a message worth killing.
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And West's hatred and envy continue with his disrespectful remarks about Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry. Just like with Obama, West was fine with Dr. Perry at first. He recruited her to come to Princeton and they were colleagues. But once it became clear that Dr. Perry had a mind of her own, and that she wasn't prone to hero worship, West began to undermine her at Princeton, so she quietly left.
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That should have been the end of it, but once West found out that she had been given a show on MSNBC, all hell broke lose. Instead of this good brother - who only lives to serve his people - being gratified that another intelligent Black voice gained access to the national media - as anyone who is genuinely concerned about the Black community should be - he caved in to his petty personal sentiments and publicly insulted Dr. Perry by calling her “a fake and a fraud.” That’s not the behavior of either an intellectual, a mature adult, or even an intelligent Black man, at least, one who has even an iota of respect for the very womb of his culture.
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So again, it seems that Cornel West is always prepared to preach a much better sermon on black love and respect than he's willing to live. His comments were extremely disrespectful toward both Black women, and the Black community as a whole. A true brother - a true man - wouldn't even speak to a lady like that in private, much less, badmouth her like that publicly.

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Whatever happen to the concept of cherishing our women? No one should have to teach Cornel about that. As a so-called Black intellectual, that's exactly what he should be teaching our young people - that it's impossible for them to have any respect for themselves, if they don't respect the very womb of their culture. How can anyone profess to be an intellectual and fail to understand that very fundamental concept? West also betrayed his elitist sense of entitlement, as well as his disdain for the poor and working class, when he complained about a mere baggage handler getting tickets to the Presidential Inauguration while he couldn't.

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And it doesn't end there. West has also seen fit to go after Jay-Z. Obviously Jay-Z was getting a little too much publicity over his part ownership of the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclay Center. So West took it upon himself to set the record straight. In essence, he said, "Wait a minute, world! That pickaninny don't own nothing. TheWhite man owns it! So you see, I'm still the man!" Okay West, but what does fronting off Jay-Z have to do with moving Black people forward?
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So Cornel West is not only a demagogue, but he's a demagogue of the very worst kind. Just before he sticks a knife in your back, he starts talking about "how much he loves his brother, however . . ." That may be so, but with "good brothers" like Cornel West, we'd all be better off orphans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E6lS0gLH18

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Now he's also badmouthing Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr.Michael Eric Dyson, saying they're "up for sale." What's wrong with this guy? What evidence does he have of that? If he has evidence to substantiate what he's saying, he should produce it. If he doesn't, he should shut up. How does it benefit the Black community by his running all over the country slandering every high-profile Black person who doesn't see things his way? He seems to have something to say about everybody but his buddy, Tavis, who's one of the most prolific corporate shills in the Black community. Tavis also have close associations with several corporations, including Walmart, that are, or have been, a member of ALEC, an organization that's left no stone unturned to deprive Black people of their right to vote - and we've got evidence of that.

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DO YOU BELIEVE NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE?

So the fact is, many in the Black community have allowed themselves to be hornswoggled by both the media, and Cornel West. The bottom line is,West is nothing more than a self-absorbed, egomaniacal fraud who hasn’t had an original thought in 35 years, and it looks like the Black community is the last to recognize that.

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Some of us have allowed ourselves to be bedazzled by two words - Harvard and Princeton. The establishment has effectively used those two words to convince many of us to accept, without examination, that Cornel West has more sense than we do. That's what accounts for the rabid defense of him in some quarters. These people need to step out of their media-constructed bubble, open their eyes, ears, and minds, and stop letting others dictate who they listen to.
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The White establishment has been propping West up with their very special kind of hype for all of his 35 years in the public eye. Yet, I have never met one person who can tell me one profound sentence he’s uttered in the three-and-a-half decades that he’s been on the public stage - and a stage is exactly what it's been, because West is more of an entertainer than an intellectual.
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Tavis and West are exactly like Herman Cain, but with one exception - at least Herman Cain is honest about supporting the GOP. But Tavis and West are using a technique used by the FBI during COINTELPRO, when J. Edgar Hoover was trying to bring down the civil rights movement in the sixties. During that time Hoover sent in a bunch of "undercover brothers" just like Tavis and West. They were so radically militant that they turned off the American people, and they were so divisive that they caused the movement to turn on itself. That’s exactly what Tavis and West are doing today.
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These two turncoats are trying to place Obama in an untenable position. They’re using militant rhetoric to insist that President Obama play Blackjack at a poker table, knowing damn well that he can’t do that. If he tries, he'll turn the American people against him - in which case, he becomes impotent and can't get anything done for anyone. But if he doesn’t, Tavis and West are going to try to turn Black people against him, which would also serve to destroy his presidency.
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That’s exactly the same thing the FBI did in the sixties. In the end, they had young Black people (who supported the harder line of Malcolm) calling Martin Luther King, "Martin Luther Coon" - including myself, I’m ashamed to admit. That’s exactly what Tavis and West are doing today. I saw the parallel immediately, and that’s why I’m dead on their asses. Maybe I can make up, just a little bit, for the stupidity of my youth.
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Malcolm saw through the problem back in the sixties and tried to instruct his followers not to allow the establishment to divide us among ourselves. He’s said that it didn’t matter whether or not we saw eye-to-eye with Martin's approach on every issue. Our goal was the same, therefore, we were allies. He then made it a point to join with Martin, but they took him out before he could complete the process.
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So while Tavis and West are always talking about, "Brother Malcolm," Malcolm would have long since seen through their game, and he would be absolutely disgusted with both of them, just as I am.

reports that Wells Fargo & Co. allegedly targeted African American borrowers for higher-cost subprime mortgages. The bank attracted attendees to a series of day-long "Wealth Building" seminars held in black neighborhoods in eight cities across the country by featuring trusted black speakers.

"The seminars, promoted heavily in black media, featured prominent African American commentator and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley as well as Kelvin Boston, the host of "Moneywise," a multicultural financial affairs show."

Sunday, November 04, 2012

As I watch the political machinations of extremists of every stripe in this country, it occurred to me that maybe I should write a book of fiction. That seems to be the only way left to slip a little truth in to the American people. The people of this country have been lied to for so long and so consistently, that they’ve become much more responsive to a well articulated lie than they are to reality. So at this point, a work of fiction would have to be about fairies and pixy dust not to come closer to the truth than what currently passes for political reality in America.

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Over the past thirty years we've allowed the most extremist forces in America to take over our political environment. As a result, truth no longer matters. What's become more important is how effectively truth can be distorted to conform to a given ideology. This philosophy has become so fully embraced by our society that instead of the press digging for the truth as was traditionally the case, they're now more like handicappers, reporting on whose lie is likely to play most effectively with the American people - "Mitt Romney's latest lie on job creation seems to be polling well in the battleground states."
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But lying is not limited to the GOP. Tavis Smiley and Cornel West have also elevated lying and demagoguery to unprecedented levels in the Black community. With their highly innovative "Poverty Tour" scam, Tavis and West are using their "Obama's-not-Black-enough" rhetoric, along with impossible demands, to marginalize the President. The tactic is designed to anger Black people and drive them away from the polls. That, in turn, benefits the GOP, and of course, it delights Tavis and West's corporate benefactors - ca-ching!
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But in spite of the fact that every available indicator, and simple common sense, suggests that Tavis and West are, let's say, less than sincere about their deep concern for the poor and middle class, there are people who are so passionate about their various one-issue ideologies that they find it more convenient to embrace a lie than to face the truth.
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For such people, the truth is inconvenient, so it doesn't matter how hard Tavis and West are fighting to bolster the position of the GOP, a group whose sole purpose in life is to cut the throats of the poor and middle class. Instead of facing this truth, they'd rather be angry at Obama for refusing to shove their personal religious beliefs down the throat of the rest of America. Thus, instead of facing the reality that corporate fascists are poised to change the very character of America as we've known it, these people would rather embrace smoke and mirrors, and promote arguments that distort reality in a way that conforms to their particular ideology. In short, the American people have been conditioned to give ideology priority over truth.
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I mean, what do you say to a man who says, President Obama is un-American because he's engaged in a socialist plot to make sure my family has health care? And what do you say to people who take the position that Obama is an arrogant elitist - "How dare he try to send my kids to college!!?" And then there are the people who say, "Sure, Obama stopped the the country from hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month under Bush, and then he got Osama Bin Laden, and in the process created more jobs in 27 months than Bush did in 7 years, but that's not good enough, so we need to go back to the old way."
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There's nothing logical left to say to such people. They're immune to logic, so the only thing left is to write a book of fiction to give them a sneak peak at the kind of world they're asking for - and I was thinking, maybe it would help to have it animated, and staring Yogi Bear unable to find anyone who could afford a picnic basket. But I've decided to give logic one more shot.

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DO YOU THINK NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE?

So first, let's be real. A blind man could see that Tavis and West are pimping the Black community. They're clearly placing their agenda before what's in the best interest of the people. They're making money, and they're also pursuing a four-year long vendetta. Now, I'm not saying that they’re being paid directly in response to an agreed upon quid pro quo, but rather, with a wink, a nod, and a slap on the back in corporate sponsorships (which helps to keep them propped up as high profile players). They could also be paid through the manipulation of endowments that fund West's $30,000 speaking fees, the corporate purchase of their books in mass numbers, and media appearances. There are many ways for the corporate establishment to reward "good-boy" behavior other than passing bags filled with cash in dark alleys.

"For many years, I have approached the party and its supporters about underwriting programs to bring together Blacks who are Republican or lean Republican so we can weave them into every facet of the party structure. The answer is always, no! But, twice this year some of these same people have approached me about funding for some election year tricks that they (White Republicans) have conjured up and simply need a Black face to execute the plan. On these two separate occasions, these funders were willing to spend upwards of $20 million to have me organize a national campaign to identify Blacks who would be critical of President Obama."
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Now, do you really believe that in this contentious election, where the Republican Party has unlimited funds and are willing to do anything to win, that some of that money is not finding its way into the pocket of two of the most money hungry, highest profile, Black Obama bashers in the country? That's highly unlikey - especially since one of those bashers, Tavis smiley, is closely associated with Walmart and several other charter members of "ALEC." So if you believe that they're not benefitting in some way from that GOP dirty tricks fund, you're naive.

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They're rationale just doesn't make sense. Tavis and West claim that they're going to vote for Obama, but they simply want to stimulate discussion. Well, if that's true, then couldn't they wait until AFTER the election, and AFTER we've made
sure that we've protected the interest of poor and middle-class America and the Black community
from corporate fascists, and THEN have this "intelligent and passionate"
discussion?
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But of course, Tavis and West would argue that once reelected,
President Obama wouldn't have an incentive to listen. But that's not true. Every
president is concerned about his legacy, and as the first Black president that's
even more true of Obama than most. In addition, President Obama has two
daughters who'll have to live with his legacy for the rest of their lives. Thus,
President Obama's actions in office will determine whether they live their lives
as American princesses, or pariahs. Certainly the highly intellectual Cornel
West recognizes that fact - doesn't he?
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At this point, I'm sure there are Tavis and West Supporters who would say that I'm being unfair. But the fact is, I'm following Cornel West's own prescription on how to determine who to trust. When Barack Obama failed to come on Tavis Smiley’s "State of Black America" show in 2008 - the very day that he threw his hat in the ring to run for President of the United States - Cornel West jumped up and down wanting to know, "Where are you getting your money?" He also said, that Obama was involved with people "who warrant our distrust." Okay. Well, Tavis and West are always talking about accountability, so lets hold them to the same standard. Do the people they're associated with warrant our trust, and where are they getting the money to finance their so-called "Poverty Tours?" And there's an irony here, by the way. In the link below, notice the logos in the background while West is preaching his sermon on trust - Wells Fargo and Exxon/Mobile, both members of ALEC.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXj3_pjTTwg&feature=player_embedded

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Now let's take a look at the people who Tavis and West want us to trust. In an article appearing in PR Watch entitled"ALEC Exposed,"Brendan Fischer says the following:

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"The gun lobby has come under the spotlight for its role in the so-called "Stand Your Ground" or "Shoot First" law that may protect the man who shot and killed seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida -- but many other special interests, including household names like Kraft Foods and Wal-Mart, also helped facilitate the spread of these and other laws by funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)."

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Brendan goes on to say, "But as CMD has documented through ALECexposed.org, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is not the only special interest that has funded ALEC's operations over the years. Kraft, Wal-Mart, State Farm, and other well-known corporations are ALEC members and give thousands of dollars a year to ALEC to support its work, sit on its board, have a vote on its task forces, and access lawmakers through ALEC meetings at fancy resorts. Over 98 percent of ALEC's annual $7 million budget comes from corporations and sources other than the $50 in annual dues paid by its legislative members. Because ALEC is largely corporate-funded, it is through the financial support of some of the largest companies in the world that ALEC model bills can spread across the country."

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Tavis Smiley is, or has been, closely associated with several members of ALEC - Walmart, Exxon/Mobile,Wells Fargo, and All-State Insurance - an organization whose sole purpose for being is to get rid of Obama, abolish the liberal agenda, and to lower the standard of living of the American middle class to conform with that of developing nations. So how does that agenda coexist with Tavis and West's claim to be concerned with the plight of the poor?

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Think about it for a moment. Contrary to the hype, both of Tavis and West are mediocre talents at best. West is all image and no substance, and Tavis is probably the most overrated Black "journalist" in all of the media. Compare Cornel West to a scholar like Melissa Harris-Perry. Dr. Perry is lucid, she substantiates her assertions, and she’s more focused on her message than she is on how cool she looks while she's on camera.

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One the other hand, Cornel West’s game is to bedazzle with showmanship rather than to inform - in fact, clarity is the very last thing he wants, because that would betray the fact that he’s not saying nothing. West goes out of his way to find polysyllabic words and construct sentences filled with phrases so convoluted that you need the Rosetta Stone decipher them, and even then they refuse to resolve into a cogent thought. And that’s not by accident. West’s entire purpose is to get a lot of camera time to bedazzle the people with gesticulation, while camouflaging the fact that he’s not saying anything. The brother’s an expert at taking a very long time to say very little. But there's one thing I can say for him, when he’s done, you’ve definitely been entertained - that is, unless you’re looking for substance. So if you interview most people after a Cornel West concert, they’ll say, "I don’t know what he said, but it sure sounded good."
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The fact is, West has been in the public eye for nearly 35 years, yet, I've never met anyone who can think of ANYTHING memorable or profound that he's said in all of that time. Even when he puts forth an effort to be profound it comes off as inane and contrived - 'Justice is what love feels like in public.' That is so tired. The only reason that ANYBODY accepts West as a scholar and intellectual is because the people who are propping him up told us that he was - and since when he came along Black people were thrilled to death to have one of our own embraced by the intellectual establishment, we never bothered to questioned his credibility, or whether or not he measured up to what they claimed he was. As a result, we're now stuck with a high profile joke representing a Black intellectual - and the bigots love him.
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The Black community was blinded by all the hype, and two words - Harvard and Princeton. That's why so many of us are so protective of West. While many of us are beginning to see the light at this point, what we still fail to realize is the only reason West was selected and embraced by the establishment in the first place was because they knew he was a clown, and he was so shallow and self-promoting in his thinking that he was safe. There’s one thing they knew about Cornel West - he might run around trying to sound militant, but he’s not about to say anything that’s going to seriously jeopardize his celebrity. That’s why you didn’t hear him saying none of the things about Bush that he’s saying about Obama.
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You see, the establishment needs people like Cornel West. He helps keep the people in check by keeping the people believing that salvation is just around the corner, but he never steps outside the boundaries of the status quo.
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Malcolm could have been the greatest mind that the world had ever known, and the establishment would never have embraced him like they're doing Tavis and West. Ask yourself why - and ask yourself why the media is allowing Tavis Smiley to overshadow much more talented Black journalists. The answer is clear. The fact is, we’re allowing ourselves to be told who to listen to.
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Now, those are the facts. Anyone who needs the animated version can contact me at the address below.

Society Of Professional Journalists

Eric L. Wattree

Strive To Become Your Own Hero... Then Let No One Remove Your Cape.

BIO

Eric L. Wattree is a writer, poet, and musician, born in Los Angeles. He’s a columnist for The Los Angeles Sentinel, Black Star News, The Atlanta Post, and a member of the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists (http://www.spj.org/). He’s also the author of "A Message From the Hood."Some of the greatest minds I’ve ever known held court while sitting on empty milk crates in the parking lots of ghetto liquor stores, while some of the weakest minds I’ve ever known roamed the halls of academia in pursuit of credentials over knowledge.Eric L. Wattreehttp://www.whohub.com/wattree

OBAMA ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Obama's Contrubution To America

My Political Persuasion

"YOUR BROTHER, IS THE MAN WHO THINKS LIKE YOU" - UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS.

WHAT A MAN THINKS, IS WHO HE IS. THINK LIKE A MARINE - STRONG, RESOLUTE, AND WITH HONOR.

GOP CONTRACT WITH AMERICA

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Am I a hater, you ask? You're damn right I'm a hater. I hate injustice. I hate hypocrisy. I also hate demagoguery, apathy, and the stupidity that allows it to exist. Hater? Absolutely. I'm a big time hater. I hate what I see happening to this country, and I hate watching the development of a culture that embraces ignorance with a stupid sense of pride. So yes, I am indeed a hater, but not only that - I'm a hater with a very low threshold for bullshit, so step off.